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The term chronic disease has been widely used through academic literature and in policy discussions surrounding a variation of diseases. It is important to know that this term is an umbrella for diseases; as disease has to be present in order for it to be chronic (Barnell & Howard, 2016). Different fields and departments used this term to outline what is a chronic disease and what isn’t. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) classifies chronic diseases as heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and arthritis (CDC, 2016). However, the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services have a much more extensive list that includes neurological disorders and mental illnesses. A report was published by Public Health Ontario in 2015 on the burden of chronic diseases is Ontario and what it found was that three-quarters of death in Ontario was caused by a chronic disease. The most common chronic diseases within the population were cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, and diabetes. Cancer is the leading cause of death in Ontario as 28,195 people died within the year of 2015. Although cancer was the leading cause of death, CVD were responsible for the largest number of new cases of chronic disease and the largest number of hospitalizations. To add, the second most prevalent chronic disease was diabetes, with 1.3 million Ontarians living with it. Unfortunately, Ontario citizens within the lowest socioeconomic status, showed a higher rate of hospitalizations and death due to chronic disease.
Along with the 4 most prevalent chronic diseases in Ontario, comes the 4 risk factors associated with it. The 4 risk factors include tobacco smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating, and alcohol consumption – the prevalence of these risk factors are high and have been increasing in Ontario. The population these risk factors target the most is individuals with low socioeconomic status facing health inequities as well as Indigenous peoples. The risk factors that contribute to chronic disease in Ontario have direct and indirect cost, those cost are:
Along with the 4 most prevalent chronic diseases in Ontario, comes the 4 risk factors associated with it. The 4 risk factors include tobacco smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating, and alcohol consumption – the prevalence of these risk factors are high and have been increasing in Ontario. The population these risk factors target the most is individuals with low socioeconomic status facing health inequities as well as Indigenous peoples. The risk factors that contribute to chronic disease in Ontario have direct and indirect cost, those cost are:
It is critical to address these risk factors because it could help the health and economic burden of chronic diseases in Ontario by eliminating overcrowding and hallway medicine. Thus, Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) has conceptualized a Chronic Disease Prevention Strategy in 2015 to help combat the chronic disease issue in Ontario. It is a multi year plan with the main goals of,
- Managing partnerships to advocate chronic disease prevention in Ontario
- Endorse chronic disease prevention policies and programs
- Undertake prevention at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels
- Advise chronic disease prevention through research and population health assessment and surveillance
The CCO’s strategy was so successful, that the continuation of the strategy has been further developed to help continue combat these risk factors that ultimately lead to chronic diseases. The current 2020-2023 strategy needs to include the systemic inequities and how to face them, along with the challenges posed by COVID-19. This is another multi-year plan that will set the stage to further progress chronic disease and prevention in Ontario. The strategy has the same goals initially set, with new outcomes to reach by the end of 2023. Some of these objectives include: GoalOutcome measure
- Managing partnerships to advocate chronic disease prevention in Ontario
- Strengthening new partnerships and engaging Ontarios leaders in chronic disease prevention through advisory committees partnership tables, non-government organizations and health networks to apply the chronic disease prevention strategy
- The inclusion of multiple levels of government to support the integration of health considerations and public policy development
- Working with First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and urban Indigenous people to address chronic disease risk and implement actions for prevention
- Providing evidence based advice to the provincial government on policies and programs for preventing chronic disease
- Exercising the promotion of policies and programs that will increase health inequities and monitoring them
- Promoting healthy work environments and public spaces
Undertake prevention at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels
- Expand prevention programs to reach more populations in Ontario
- Strengthen early detection programs
- Create initiatives in the prevention and screening process to reduce health inequities
- Support at the primary care level
Advise chronic disease prevention through research and population health assessment and surveillance
- Strengthen data management strategy for Ontario’s health data holdings and data infrastructure
- Providing risk factors, screening and disease surveillance information that informs chronic disease prevention
- Offer the data and evidence-based guidelines that continue to support the quality improvement in prevention and screening
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